1. The MENA Region: The Impacts of
Youth Population and Employment
on US National Security
Josh Dunn
Intelligence Analysis Program
Middle Eastern Communities and Migrations Minor

2. Covered in the Presentation
• The US National Security Strategy (NSS) for
the MENA (Middle East and North Africa)
Region
• Youth Unemployment
• Education
• Private vs. Public sector incentives/securities
• FDIs (Foreign Direct Investments)

3. US National Security Strategy (NSS)
• Dismantling Terror
Networks
• Confronting external
aggression against allies
• Ensuring free flow of
energy
• Preventing WMDs
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MENA_map.png

4. Population Breakdown

5. Employment

6. Education
• College educated unemployment can be higher than 30%
• Disparity between over-qualified and under-qualified college
graduates

8. FDIs

9. Opportunities
• Rewrite the US NSS to address specific
economic issues
• Partner with US private sector businesses to
help provide technical expertise to the MENA
region private sector
• Work with educational institutions to provide
better training and skills for graduates

10. Confidence Level
• High level of confidence
• Status of economic trends
• Minimal information gaps with economic
trends
• Other drivers/trends

11. Questions?
• Dunn2jt@dukes.jmu.edu
Thanks
• Dr. Tang
• Capstone Sponsor:
– Toffler Associates
• Capstone Advisors
– Masseh Tahiry
– Jason Fieger